Mantaoleng Sarah Motsatse
Lesotho
MSc Water Science, Policy and Management, 2019
Keble College
Funding: Oxford-Hoffmann and GRoW @ Annenberg
Mantaoleng founded Viridi Aquaponics, a water project in Lesotho that is aimed at bridging the gap between efficient water management practices and sustainable societies while also promoting economic empowerment, before coming to Oxford. She is now the managing director of Viridi Foods. She is working to position her company as a sustainable food business along the African horticultural supply chain.
She is also the co-founder and Chief Operations Officer of e-kaya(Home of African Art), an innovation art project that was started with a fellow WHT alumna (Ms Ncube) to bring African art to the international market while also promoting innovation and economic empowerment in the rural areas of Africa.
Mantaoleng graduated cum laude from the University of the Western Cape in South Africa, with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Environmental and Water Science. She is passionate about addressing the rise of water scarcity and attended the Climate Change Mitigation in Developing Countries course at the University of Cape Town as well as the Access to a Habitable Planet Workshop in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
She is based in Peka, Leribe district, Lesotho.
“WHT equipped me with the leadership qualities that I needed in my field. To lead with diligence knowing that it is possible to make profits while empowering communities and protecting the environment. This is a process I’m actively working towards.”
